Olympic Charter Evolution Shaped by Urban Strategies and Stakeholder’s Governance: From Pierre de Coubertin to the Olympic Agenda 2020

Abstract

The Olympic Charter is the binding document that rules the Olympic Movement which, among other things, has the role of managing the organization of the biggest and most complex sporting event in the world - the Olympic games. The multi-disciplinary nature of this event implies the involvement of diverse stakeholders, including hosts and respective communities that, besides having different interests, rely on each other to fulfil them. As the owner of the event, the International Olympic Committee has the role of managing these interests through the update and modification of the Olympic Charter. This paper explores the evolution of this document, taking special consideration of the influence that occurrences related with stakeholder’s governance and urban strategies of hosts had on its rules. A cross-referenced review between the historical events within these two fields of study is compared to a systematic review of the Charter’s evolution. The results include a timeline with eight periods identifying the progress of those relationships, showing that the Olympic Charter has had a more reactive than pro-active character: it was highly influenced by hosts and other internal and external governance issues that, together, were responsible for the addition of new rules.